Quote: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraq wants to buy an initial squadron of Lockheed Martin Corp F-16 fighter aircraft this year to help guard against perceived threats from Iran and Syria after U.S. forces leave, the head of the Iraqi Air Force told Reuters Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. Anwar Ahmed said he hoped to sign a contract for 18 advanced F-16s as the centerpiece of billions of dollars Iraq is expected to spend on arms in coming years.

"This is very important to us," he said in a telephone interview while visiting Washington. "It is a priority."

Provided funds are made available by Iraq's Parliament, he said his goal was to acquire up to 96 F-16s through 2020. He cited the F-16C/D Block 50/52 models now being produced for Poland, Israel, Greece and Pakistan.

The 18 airframes would be a logical follow-up to the KAI T-50 advanced trainers they are eyeing, and would stand up almost a full transition squadron, gradually building up as their pilots hone their skills and gain more proficiency. However, it might be prudent to sell them the lead-in fighter/light combat aircraft version first, until it is well-established where their allegiances truly lie.....

Whichever way, Lockheed Martin stands to gain a lot, and as this seems to be a sole-source procurement, the Fighting Falcon may well be on the way of another decade of production. And maybe LM won't get in the way of their equipment selection like in South Korea, so NG's SABR or Raytheon's RACR may be specified.....

Quote:"Korea’s F/A-50 was recently barred from using the Vixen 500E, under an agreement with co-developer Lockheed Martin that did not allow the F/A-50’s capabilities to surpass the ROKAF’s F-16s."

Quote:Provided funds are made available by Iraq's Parliament, he said his goal was to acquire up to 96 F-16s through 2020. He cited the F-16C/D Block 50/52 models now being produced for Poland, Israel, Greece and Pakistan.

Even if relations went deep south with Iraq in the future... 90 F-16C/Ds is not going to do much for them in a fire fight. As discussed in the Iran SU-30MKI order thread, 90 vipers in anyones hands are not a particular threat to the US. Israel might be a bit concerned, but considering the caliber of professionalism and skill coming out of the Iraqi military... they would have more to fear from the ground than mixing it up in the air.

The F-16 is not really cutting edge anymore... if anything it is becoming a entry level aircraft, everyone else who can afford it is moving on to the F-35, and if they can manage, the F-22.

Quoting Oroka (Reply 6):The F-16 is not really cutting edge anymore... if anything it is becoming a entry level aircraft, everyone else who can afford it is moving on to the F-35, and if they can manage, the F-22.

It is still capable of putting ordnance on target, and will be for the foreseeable future.

Quoting Fridgmus (Reply 8):I'm not a pilot and I mean no offense or disrespect to the Iraqi Air Force or their pilot candidates, but do they have enough competent personnel to fly these high performance aircraft?

Sure, I think they have probably many intellectually capable individuals. I'm sure there are some Iraqis around the world who might consider returning Iraq to serve in the armed forces there. There are millions of Iraqi's who are attending higher education in Europe and here in the US. Iraq someday could become the next India

Quoting Fridgmus (Reply 8):After watching a few IAF C-130 landings at Kirkuk AB and talking with some of the flight instructors there, I dunno.

Maybe others know more?

I think you could see very soon the USAF training IAF pilot candidates here pretty soon, if they aren't already training them in some sort of capacity like we did with the Saudis and Pakistanis.

Once the security situation drastically improves, we leave and the Tribal Militias (yes they are very tribal) are under control, then I would hope all those educated Iraqi's who are overseas would come home to serve in leadership/technical capacities (ex: military officers) and rebuild their country. Time will tell.

I know we train other Nationalities, so why not the Iraqi's? It most certainly would be a better and safer training environment. They would really learn how to "turn & burn" in a high performance jet! Makes sense. And it might also encourage Iraqi expats to come home and serve. I would imagine being a US-trained pilot looks pretty good on a CV!

Quoting Lumberton (Reply 7):It is still capable of putting ordnance on target, and will be for the foreseeable future.

So can F-4s, my point being that the F-16 has been dissected by Russia, so any secrets it still contained are not so secret anymore. So if they fly them to Iran, Iran will get airframes, not new secret technology.

Maybe they should get their electrical grid working before spending a billion $ on fighters. I suspect they need a bunch more choppers and transports too before supersonic fighters, or even MRAPs and sundry less sexy equipment. I would think a bunch of A10s or similar (bring back the Skyraider!) will be far better suited for their near term CAS needs. That way the Shiites will be able to bomb and strafe the Sunni better in their remaining houses when the real civil war starts up!

As long as there is some US military presence in Iraq I doubt the Iraqis need to worry about Iranian planes coming to bomb them and needing F16s to protect themselves. Maybe to protect against Turkish planes, but aren't they supposed to be a NATO ally? Great, a war with F16s on each side, how wonderful!

Quoting Oroka (Reply 13):So can F-4s, my point being that the F-16 has been dissected by Russia, so any secrets it still contained are not so secret anymore. So if they fly them to Iran, Iran will get airframes, not new secret technology.

really? the Block 52 is a very advanced version of the F-16 I doubt the Russians have dissected all of the technology on them.

Quoting Wvsuperhornet (Reply 16):really? the Block 52 is a very advanced version of the F-16 I doubt the Russians have dissected all of the technology on them.

While true... it still isn't the best on the market. Try suggesting Iraq get F-35s... even allies like Israel would get watered down versions of the F-35 (if they get them). Any F-16 is still inferior to a watered down F-35, so a block 52 F-16 is still 2 steps down from the best. Also, I am pretty sure Russia can match (or come close to) a block 52s hardware, so they might like to have a peek, but they wouldn't gain any real new capacity.

Quoting Oroka (Reply 20):While true... it still isn't the best on the market. Try suggesting Iraq get F-35s... even allies like Israel would get watered down versions of the F-35 (if they get them). Any F-16 is still inferior to a watered down F-35, so a block 52 F-16 is still 2 steps down from the best. Also, I am pretty sure Russia can match (or come close to) a block 52s hardware, so they might like to have a peek, but they wouldn't gain any real new capacity.

I am not try to beat a dead horse here, but I was never suggesting that the F-16 block 52 is the best on the market, just that there arent many things that are. A block 52 F-16 in the hands of a US trained Iraqi pilot will be more than a handfull for any of their close neighbors. As far as Israel getting watered down F-35's wont happen Israel has always gotten or at least offered top US equipment the Iraqis wont get it because the US has a long standing agreement with Israel that we would maintain them as the sole military power (so to speak) in the middle east, Iraq will get watered down everything compared to Israel. Actaully Israel's F-16's are more advanced or equal to anything the US has in its inventory along with the F-15I's. So I dont expect the F-35's to be any different.

Israel is not quite the buddy they were in past decades. IIRC, they have let slip a few technologies to China that the probably shouldn't have... that probably annoyed a few people over at the Pentagon. Not to mention the Lavi / J-10 thing. I know everyone denies it, but the J-10 is a close copy of the Lavi (which was paid for by the US). China dosent have a original bone in their collective bodies... there is no way they designed a gen 4.5 fighter on their own.

Quoting Oroka (Reply 22):Israel is not quite the buddy they were in past decades. IIRC, they have let slip a few technologies to China that the probably shouldn't have... that probably annoyed a few people over at the Pentagon. Not to mention the Lavi / J-10 thing. I know everyone denies it, but the J-10 is a close copy of the Lavi (which was paid for by the US). China dosent have a original bone in their collective bodies... there is no way they designed a gen 4.5 fighter on their own.

Wont argue that your right the J-10 is a Lavi/F-16 (from pakistan) copy. But that has never stopped our congress from approving it before. I never said I was in favor of it just with the lobbying power Israel has in our congress they will receive the top of the line F-35 wether we like it or not.

Quoting TexL1649 (Reply 23):Iraq doesn't need the best of the best for air dominance. All they have to worry about are (a) insurgents and (b) Iran. The AT-6B's with sidewinders might work vs. Iran.

And Syria, but your right they dont need top of the line for either country, some used F-16's would suite them well.